RATIONALE: Tetracycline may be effective in preventing skin rash that is caused by treatment with drugs such as gefitinib or cetuximab.

PURPOSE: This randomized clinical trial is studying tetracycline to see how well it works compared to placebo in preventing skin rash in patients who are receiving drugs such as gefitinib or cetuximab for cancer.

Compare the 1-month incidence and severity of gefitinib-, cetuximab-, or other epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor-induced skin rash development in patients with cancer treated with tetracycline vs placebo.

Compare the toxicity of these drugs in these patients.

Compare the quality of life of patients treated with these drugs who develop vs those who do not develop a rash.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 126 patients will be accrued for this study.

Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:

18 Years and older (Adult, Senior)

Genders Eligible for Study:

Both

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

No

Criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

Diagnosis of cancer

Began therapy within the past 7 days or plans to begin therapy within 7 days after study entry with one of the following epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors:

Gefitinib

Cetuximab

Erlotinib

Monoclonal antibody ABX-EGF

ICR-62

CI-1033

EMD-72000

No rash at study entry

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

18 and over

Hepatic

Bilirubin ≤ 2 mg/dL

Renal

Creatinine ≤ 2 mg/dL

Other

Not pregnant or nursing

Negative pregnancy test

Fertile patients must use effective non-hormonal contraception

Able to take oral medication

No history of skin condition that may flare during study treatment

No prior allergic reaction or severe intolerance to tetracycline or one of its derivatives

No severe nausea or vomiting that would preclude retaining study drug

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Other

More than 1 week since prior tetracycline

No milk products, antacids, or calcium supplements for 2 hours before until 2 hours after drug administration

No other concurrent tetracycline

Contacts and Locations

Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below.
For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00091247